The reality of a mind palace
by kathaka9
Summary: OC. A bit of Teenlock. Sherlock gets trapped in his mind. How will he cope when the walls of his mind begin to break down? Can the Doctor help save him? Or will he become the next victim?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1.**

One minute he was Sherlock Holmes the only consulting detective in the world, the next he was a supposedly insane teenage boy. How did this happen? He could still deduce, he was still Sherlock Holmes, so how come he's suddenly insane? He looked around, mental hospital. How did he end up here? More importantly why is he a teenager?

A woman wearing white hospital clothes walked into his room. Psychiatrist. Oh for goodness sake! He's not insane. The woman was in her mid 30's and had long blonde hair.

"Good to see you're awake. My name is Sarah."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Obviously. I can read your name tag you know! By the way you shouldn't become a psychiatrist until you sort out your own issues."

She sighed this was going to be a long session. "Yes well... umm.. So Sherlock are you going to talk to us today?"

"How did I get here?"

"That's none of your concern."

"I think it is."

"We only have to tell you what we think you need to know."

"Well then SARAH, I believe I have the right to know how I ended up here."

"No you don't. You're not Sherlock Holmes the great consulting detective. You belong here kid."

Sherlock turned his back on her and said "Leave."

"Not until you talk to me."

"I just did. LEAVE. NOW."

"No Sherlock. I may be new here but you're not going to drive me off like you've done to all the psychiatrists who have stepped foot in this room."

"Have I? Look Sarah, I don't remember anything from about 5 minutes before now. So if you wish to talk to me you're going to have a very hard time with that."

"5 minutes? Really? But you've been here for almost a year now."

"Leave. If I really have been here a year I need to recover the information from my mind palace."

"Fine. I'll come back in an hour."

"Don't bother."

She turned around and left the room. Sherlock was glad to be alone. He needed time to work out what was actually going on. How did he end up here? Was his whole adult life really a dream? No, it can't be. But what about John? What if he was just a dream? Has he really gone insane? Has he really nearly been here a year?

How he wish he had the answers. He went to his mind palace to search for them. The doors were fading away. He felt trapped. He ignored it and continued walking. The corridors got even more empty the further in he went. His adult life... it was fading. But none of this life had appeared. What is happening to his mind?

He felt someone shake him. His eyes snapped open. Sarah was standing in front of him again. "Leave."

"No. Did you find anything in that mind of yours?"

"Maybe I would've, if YOU hadn't interrupted me. Come back tomorrow. I don't want or need to talk to you."

"Sorry, can't do that for you."

"Well then Sarah, you have 3 kids, 2 girls and a boy. You have been married 6 no 8 years. Today is your oldest daughters birthday and you're taking her to a concert tonight. Now I'm sure it would make her day if her mummy came home early for her birthday. So run along now. Go see your daughter."

"How did you..."

He smiled and teased "None of your concern."

"That was incredible. You knew all of that from just one look?"

"I knew more than that. I just said enough to make you leave."

'Wow, you really are something. I'll go get Doctor Smith. he loves bright people."

"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!?"

"Law."

"Law is boring."

Sarah sighed and left the room. Sherlock went back to his mind palace to try and sort out whatever was happening in it. His mind palace seemed smaller. Probably just perspective. He was after all in a part of his mind he tried to stay clear of. He had no idea how he had ended up here. This was his secret zone. Anything he needed to know but couldn't face got locked up here.

He knew he couldn't stay here. There wasn't anything here that would be useful. He felt someone shake him awake. Oh god, not again! He opened his eyes. A matchstick man with a trench coat and hair that spikes up was standing in front of him. The man looked much older than his face implied. He smiled down at Sherlock. "Hello I'm Doctor John Smith."

"You interrupted me."

"Oh sorry. You can go back to it if you like."

"You don't want to talk to me?"

"No, you'll talk to me when you're ready."

"I don't think so."

"Well you know where to find me."

"No I don't."

"When has that ever stopped you?"

Doctor Smith turned and walked out of the room, leaving Sherlock alone with his thoughts. That was how he liked it, no one to get in the way. He entered his mind palace and stayed there until the next morning sorting through the fading rooms. He thought of John, Lestrade and even Moriarty. Surely all of that had to be real... right?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2.**

After his journey through his mind palace last night Sherlock hadn't discovered anything useful. Maybe that John Smith guy might be of some use. He seemed to know more than he was letting on. Sherlock walked up to the door and pulled it open. Not locked, good. He checked to see if the coast was clear before running off to find Doctor Smith. That is until he realised he didn't even know where he was.

He bumped into Sarah. "Where do you think you're going?"

He tried to run off but she grabbed his wrist. "Answer me."

He sighed "Who's the guy?"

"What guy?"

"The one you met at the concert last night."

"I don't even want to know how you know that. Look, your petty deductions don't scare me so tell me where you were going."

He looked around trying to think of a decent excuse. "Umm bathroom?"

Sarah laughed and shook her head, "Liar. Tell me the truth."

Sherlock decided that it'd be better to just give in. "Look I'm trying to find Doctor Smith. He told me to find him."

"You do know you could've just asked where he is."

"No one was around."

"Follow me." She led him towards a section of offices. There was a door marked Doctor John Smith. "You have one hour." She said before leaving.

Sherlock suddenly felt unsure of himself. Did he really need his help? No, he needs to get a grip. There is nothing to be scared of. What was he thinking? A monster is hiding in the closet? There's no such thing as monsters. He knocked on the door.

Doctor Smith opened the door and saw Sherlock standing there. "Come in."

Sherlock walked inside. This wasn't a normal office. There was a desk but last time he checked normal doctor's don't keep blue police boxes in their offices.

"About time you came here. I was beginning to think you'd become like everyone else here. Well I suppose you're Sherlock Holmes. You'd never let that happen. You just have to be different. Well I suppose in this case that's a good thing. You're the first person who's ever come to find me. Most people just stay in their rooms while their brains turn to goo."

"Why?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm here, to try and work out what's causing all this. It seems to have gone after you though. Strange. It only ever goes after easy targets, you wouldn't be one. What's it like?"

"Well given that it's wiping my mind and apparently turning my brain too goo, not good."

"Did you get a chance to see it?"

"No, I've been a little busy trying to hold onto my adult life."

"You're fighting it? Are you winning?"

"A little hard to tell. Memories come and go, it's a little hard to tell who's got the upper hand."

"Who do you think will win?" "I'd love to say that I would. But I have no idea what it even is. How can I fight something when I can't even know if it's real?"

"What do you mean?"

"This." He gestured around him. "How can we even tell if it's real. What if it's just a plant to make me believe it better? OH THATS BRILLIANT!"

"What is?"

"THIS. It's turning my mind against me. In the process it turns my mind to goo and feeds off all my knowledge. It's trying to trick me. Trying to make me think I'm winning. It's going to be a game of cat and mouse. We run through my mind until there's nothing left of it. Brilliant. Except for the me dying part. The world needs me."

"Any ideas on how to stop it?"

"Not yet."

"So I'm assuming it's disguised."

Sherlock rolled his eyes as if to say even an idiot could notice that.

John continued "If it's disguised then who is it?"

Sherlock instantly ran out of the room. John followed him. Sherlock ran up to Sarah. "How could I not realise it before!? You're the...the...the... THING! You're what trapped me here."

"I don't know what you're talking about..."

"I think you do."

Sarah sighed "Fine. You got me. I'm the creature."

Doctor Smith felt really annoyed; he'd been trying to figure this out for months and Sherlock just comes along and figures it out in a day. He hadn't realised that Sarah was still talking, he was too lost in his envy.

"Well done Sherlock. You're the first who has actually realised the reality around them. Well you at least deserve some answers then. My real name is Ninetta."

"Well Ninetta, can we have a bit more of a challenge. I was practically falling asleep. The Doctor over there was completely stuck before I came along... wait a second... how did he even get in my mind when he's a character in a science fiction show?"

"Because I threw him in here a long time ago. I have control over your mind. It won't be long before there won't be anything left of it."

"I WILL win. My mind is what counts..."

"Yes I know everything else is transport. You really have some fascinating things in that mind of yours. Too bad they won't be there to help you."

Ninetta snapped her fingers and the world around them began to fade.


End file.
